Sincerely, a Book Nerd is a Young Adult Book blog focused around novels from contemporary to paranormal. I update about every week, maybe more! I love to share my views on the novels I am reading and hope that you enjoy it!

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Monday, June 22, 2015

Review: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Rebel Belle

Author: Rachel HawkinsPublisher: Putnam Juvenile

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

Genre: ParanormalPage Count: 345

Age Range: 12+

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run- in at the dance imbuses her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him- and discovered that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

My Thoughts:

Okay so I am going to come out and say it right away that I was not blown away by this book by any means. When it first came out and the couple months after, everyone was talking about the book. It was on the front page of B & N. com, Amazon, and most social media. Since I had read the Hex Hall series, I thought I should at least read the book.

Well I could tell from the beginning that I was not going to like it. I actually stopped about twenty pages in and it took me two months after to pick it back up again. I could tell right away that I would not like it because of the main character. Harper is the popular goody two shoes who is so self confident and stuck up. I could not stand her. She was rude and did not care about anyone but herself. I mean, yes, she did grow up throughout the book but she still had that air about her even at the end. In the beginning of the novel, David Stark helps her when she is having a major freak out, and she barely apologizes and just goes on with her life. Like, okay?? RUDE.

I also did not believe that the novel was super duper exciting. It was pretty predictable and I was never rushing to read the next page. I think that is when I could tell that it was not the book for me. The Paladin story made sense and was obviously thought through but it wasn't exciting! It is one of those things that I cannot really explain because there is not much to explain, which is kind of sad.

I will say that I liked David Stark. I have no idea what he sees in Harper, but he was a cool dude. Although he had a hard time understanding his place in the world, I thought he dealt with his identity well, especially at the end of the novel. He manned (is that a word?) up and took responsibility for who he was.

It was hard for me to connect with the characters because we differ so much, especially with Harper. She was so excited for Cotillion, having the right lipstick, and wearing the perfect dress. We just have different values and things that are important to us. It was just difficult to immerse myself in the story when I knew that I would never be able to completely connect.